Fire destroys C-Arrow horse barn, leaves one mare dead

A weekend fire at a popular Wichita-area horse stable led to the death of a pregnant mare, the business’ owner said.

C-Arrow Stables owner Barry Cole said he discovered that his horse barn was on fire at about 6:30 a.m. on Saturday. Cole said he was able to get eight of the nine horses housed in the barn out, but a mare named Midnight did not escape.

“It’s a pretty sad deal,” Cole said when reached by phone on Sunday. “They think she probably just had a heart attack because everything freaked her out so much.”

The business, 5911 N. Maize Road in Maize, offers riding lessons, training and horse rentals along with boarding services. It also hosts a number of youth camps every spring and summer.

A rodeo camp is scheduled to take place July 10-14, which Cole said will go on as scheduled. Cole said he’s been told investigators are working to determine the cause of the fire, which he believes originated in a storage shed adjacent to the barn.

C-Arrow was already slated to be closed from Sunday until July 9 because of a scheduled family vacation, Cole said. Instead of vacationing in Arkansas, however, Cole remained in Maize on Sunday with lots of cleanup on the horizon.

“The barn is totally demolished,” Cole said. “All of the tack that we use for the camps and lessons and everything – it was all ruined. We lost a Bobcat and a tractor, too. We lost a lot of stuff.”

The business, which is run mainly by Barry and his son, Keaton, was started in 1989, according to its website.

“We can’t stop now,” Barry Cole said. “We’ve had camps for 27 years. Kids are now bringing their kids to our camps. A man came up to me (Sunday) and said, ‘You taught my daughter her work ethic in that barn.’ There are a lot of people with a lot of memories from that barn.”

Woodard Mercantile, 4160 N. Maize Road, will be accepting donations for the purchase of replacement tack and grooming supplies that were destroyed in the fire, Barry Cole said.

The items will need to be purchased this week before the start of the next camp. Supply donations, new or used, will also be accepted, he said.

Those wanting to help can visit Woodard Mercantile or call 316-722-0216.

This story was originally published July 2, 2017 at 4:16 PM with the headline "Fire destroys C-Arrow horse barn, leaves one mare dead."